Monday, January 23, 2012

Chinese New Year 2012 @ Chinatown
by Adrian

Despite living so near to New York City, we have never been to Chinatown on the first day of Chinese New Year. So Serene and I decided to take Monday off and go to New York Chinatown to check out the Chinese New Year festivity for a change. While exploring the events, we found out there was a Year of Dragon: Firecracker Ceremony at Roosevelt Park.

The Chinese New Year would not be complete if there are no lion dance performances. As expected we saw a few different troupes performing their stunts.

Drummer for the 1st troupe

1st troupe

2nd troupe with protected plastic bag to shield the lion's head from the rain (Kind of weird as I always thought they are waterproof)

3rd troupe with the black colored lion

Opening ceremony for the Firecracker Ceremony

Letting off firecracker in progress

Rain does not deter Chinese ushers from celebrating the Year of Dragon

CNN's Senior U.N. correspondent Richard Roth reporting from the scene

Aftermath of the firecracker ceremony

Tsai Chen- God of good fortune with a member of the press

Chinese dolls figures walking about (No clue what they represent. Anyone please explain?)

Chinese folk dance in action

That's basically how New York's Chinatown celebrates first day of the Chinese New Year. It is different from Malaysia but close enough to feel like home.

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